1) Escaped cows c1962. This view taken from the front bedroom of 4 Haydon Gdns has several points of interest.
(a) It shows there was an active farm in the vicinity.
(b) To the immediate left of the telegraph pole you can see Keith Elsbury's pre-war MG TC parked outside No 14. Keith loving restored this and drove it for many years.
(c) The telegraph pole has only one line running from it. Hardly anyone had a phone in those days and the public call box on Romney Ave was heavily used.
(d) On a roof one can see the old X-shaped VHF band TV antenna.
(e) The trees on the sky-line looked to me like a Chinese dragon marching across Purdown. These were the source of some of the wood we used for our 5th November bonfires. (f) In the gaps between the houses on the LHS one can see one of the huge drums of cables that were being used in the construction of the communications tower. (g) The cable at roof top level crossing the gap between the houses is probably the one that distributed the Redifusion cable radio service that many had. On it we used to listen to the Dan Dare programmes on Radio Luxemburg; the reception was poor when it rained.
The car was my first one, a second-hand Morris Cowley that had a replacement engine.
The picture was taken in about 1966. The car cost me £65 which I earned by working all the University summer holidays at Witts Bakery in Ashley Down.
It was a real rust-bucket, with a 3-speed column-change gearbox, no seat belts, but I drove it for 6 years and did about 50,000 miles. It carried me back and forth many times between Bristol and Liverpool, before the motorways were built.
When I drove Penny my girl friend down to meet the family for the first time, I had to change down a gear when driving against the wind! I fixed that by grinding the valves and fitting new valve springs.
The boat in the driveway of No. 3 Haydon Gardens was a lifeboat that was being turned (slowly) into a small cabin cruiser by George Peglar. It was in that position for many years in the 1970's.
I think that the 4-wheeled trailer in front of it was made to carrying the engines of the ill-fated TSR2 plane, which was cancelled.
I remember that George told me he bought it from the aircraft factory at Filton where he worked for £3, and converted it to carry the boat.
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